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Can rain reduce the risk of malaria?

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Intuitively, we certainly would not expect rainfall to have any positive influence on the number of malaria cases, on the contrary. Malaria, one of the world’s most damaging diseases with more than 300 million cases per year and more than a million deaths, is transmitted by mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. Since the mosquito larvae live in small ponds, it would be expected that the more rain the more water-filled ponds and crevices, the more mosquitoes and malaria. However, findings reported by the scientists from the Unversity of Wageningen in the Netherlands and Kenya Medical Research Institute suggest that increased rainfall will have a negative effect on mosquito larval populations and thus potentially on Malaria. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (34) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 2313 \| E-mail
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Incense used as medicine

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Incense from the arabian peninsula. Used in asia in traditional medicine. Courtesy: www.esuq.de Boswellia acids stem from incense trees. In ancient arabian medicine books from the middle ages incence was described as "enforcing the brain and heeling insect bites". It was the famous Ibn Sina (known as "Avicenna" in medieval europe) who mentionend the use of incense in his 5 volume- "Canon of medicine". This book was until the late 17th century also in Europe the basis of medical knowledge in spite of the deep cultural gap between christian europe and the islamic world during that time period, showing its importance for the history of medical science. Now with the methods of modern science it seems to be approved what medieval arab medical doctors concluded by observations and empiric insights over generations. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (52) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 6731 \| E-mail
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Exploding beetles suggest a new pressure relief valve and fluid discharge system

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Tuesday, 06 November 2007
Bombardier beetles belong to the family Carabidae (ground beetles). More than 500 species are described world wide. Shown here is a bombardier beetle from the genus Brachisinus. Photo taken by Patrick Coin (from Wikipedia). The bombardier beetles have long fascinated scientists and natural historians alike due to their extraordinary line of defence against predators such as ants, frogs and birds. When threatened, they squirt a hot stream of liquid chemicals onto their aggressor accompanied by a loud popping sound. The chemicals, hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide, are secreted by a pair of glands. Each gland consists of a reservoir and a reaction chamber connected by a valve. The reaction chamber is connected to the outside world via a nozzle and an exit valve. The reservoir contains an aqueous solution of hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide, while the reaction chamber is filled with a mixture of catalase and peroxidases dissolved in water. Muscles squeeze the content of the reservoir into the reaction chamber, where extremely fast reactions occur. These reactions results in free oxygen and generate enough heat to bring the liquid to the boiling point. The valve to the reservoir closes due to the pressure of the released gasses and the liquid is expelled explosively through the nozzle and exit valve at the tip of the abdomen. By rotating the abdominal top, the beetles can aim the nearly boiling liquid in any direction. A direct hit is fatal for other insects and can cause considerable pain even in humans. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (43) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 4961 \| E-mail
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Amazing diversity among indonesian monitor lizards

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Friday, 02 November 2007
Andre Koch with a monitor lizard, Gorontalo, N Sulawesi. Courtesy: Evy Arida) A young german scientist, phd-student Andr Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (34) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 2579 \| E-mail
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Self-organisation among bacteria

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
In the past decades, researchers have been working hard on solving the problem of how individual cells in a multicellular organism organise themselves in structures such as hearts, brains, lungs etc during ontogeny. Although far from fully understood, a picture is slowly emerging of a complex set of control interactions between the genetic commands of the DNA within the cell and protein and RNA information within and among the cells. However, intriguingly it has been known for some time that simple prokaryotic bacteria are capable of self-organising and cooperating into superstructures to form biofilm and those involved in infectious diseases. Scientists from America and Sweden have now investigated this process in detail. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (29) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1495 \| E-mail
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Snails actively build up a camouflage

Written by Dr. H. P. Bustami
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Snail modelizing its wormgearbox. Courtesy, C. Allgaier, University Tuebingen, Germany) It was well known from hermit crabs that they use conches as protection against predators. They carry with them their own fortress. Now scientists from the university of Tuebingen, Germany, revealed that some land snail species actively use structures of their substrate they are living on and attach it to their wormgearbox. The 1 cm long land snail Napaeus barquini, living on the canary island Gomera, lives on rocky underground which is covered by lichen. Young snails actively build bumps of lichen on their wormgearboxes. They use their mouth to graze the lichen and during a complicated behaviour add it to the camouflage. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (66) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1895 \| E-mail
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Defence and structure in plants

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
The world is full of large and especially small plant-eating animals, so most plants have developed some kind of defence. It can be something as simple as growing fast and the ability to re-grow eaten parts or it can involve low nitrogen concentration, low moisture content or complicated toxins or deterrents. Some plants also possess structural and morphological defences such as spines, hairs and toughened leaves. However, researchers have so far shown too little attention to structural defence mechanisms compared to chemical defences. Scientists from Australia have now begun to rectify this by synthesising the available data. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (27) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1008 \| E-mail
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A new method to avoid ice formation during cryo-preservation

Written by Thomas Hesselberg
Monday, 15 October 2007
The main danger for animals exposed to cold weather is the risk associated with freezing and the formation of ice crystals within the body in general and intracellular in particular. Cold resistant animals use a variety of methods to combat ice formation, including increasing the salinity of the blood and thereby decrease the freezing point, using special chemicals to produce anti-freeze liquids. Researchers have long been interested in discovering ways in which organic materials can be frozen without causing damage to the tissue. The most famous application of this is the science fiction idea of letting astronauts hibernate during long space voyages. However, a more immediate application is the medical need for cryo-preserving organs and tissue that are later to be used in organ transplantations. Researchers from the United Kingdom have now come up with a new method of freezing articular cartilage. Be first to comment this article \| Add as favourites (44) \| Quote this article on your site \| Views: 1543 \| E-mail
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Pathogen genes on-off-switch by using Aspirin reveals new insights for infection research

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